The Brittle Trust and the Flourishing Branch Text: Proverbs 11:28
Introduction: The World's Worst Financial Advisor
Every man trusts in something. This is not a negotiable point. The human heart is an idol factory, as Calvin said, and it is also a trust factory. You will place your confidence, your hope, your sense of security, and your identity in something. The only question is whether that something is made of rock or sand, whether it is a living tree or a pile of dead leaves. Our secular age, for all its sophisticated scoffing at religion, is one of the most credulous and superstitious in history. It has simply exchanged one object of worship for another. Men no longer trust in God, so they trust in government. They no longer trust in Providence, so they trust in their 401(k). They have rejected the anchor of the soul and have instead put their faith in an anchor made of concrete, wondering why it pulls them down.
The book of Proverbs is intensely practical. It is not a collection of esoteric sayings for monks in a cloister; it is a handbook for living in God's world, God's way. And a central part of living in God's world is dealing with stuff, with material possessions, with wealth. Our culture has two basic settings when it comes to money: either a crass materialism that worships it, or a pious-looking socialism that envies and resents it. Both are forms of idolatry. Both are obsessed with riches. The Bible cuts through this bipolar confusion with a sharp dose of reality.
The issue, as Scripture consistently presents it, is not the having of riches, but the trusting in them. Wealth can be a blessing from God, a tool for dominion, and a means of great good in the world. But it makes for a terrible god. It is a good servant but a cruel master. The proverb before us today sets up a stark contrast, a fork in the road that every single one of us must take. It presents two foundations for life, two objects of trust, and two ultimate destinies. One man builds his house on his bank account, and the other is himself a house, a tree, planted by God. One will fall, and the other will flourish. This is not complicated, but it is profoundly contrary to the spirit of our age, and therefore, we must attend to it with all seriousness.
The Text
"He who trusts in his riches will fall, But the righteous will flourish like the green leaf."
(Proverbs 11:28 LSB)
The Fool's Portfolio (v. 28a)
We begin with the first half of the verse, which describes the foundation and the fate of the worldly man.
"He who trusts in his riches will fall..." (Proverbs 11:28a)
The key word here is "trusts." The problem is not possessing riches, but being possessed by them. To trust in something is to lean your full weight on it. It is to look to it for security, for significance, for your future. When the stock market report determines your mood for the day, you are trusting in riches. When your sense of self-worth is tied to the square footage of your house or the logo on your car, you are trusting in riches. When you make decisions based on financial security above all other considerations, like righteousness or faithfulness, you are trusting in riches. It is the sin of practical atheism. It is saying to a pile of gold, "You are my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer."
And what is the end of this trust? It is to "fall." This is not a maybe; it is a certainty. Why? Because you have placed your trust in something that is inherently unstable. Riches are famously unreliable. They have wings and fly away (Prov. 23:5). Moths and rust destroy, and thieves break in and steal (Matt. 6:19). Economic systems collapse. Currencies devalue. Your prized possessions will one day belong to someone else, and will eventually end up in a landfill. To trust in riches is to build your house on a pile of autumn leaves in the path of a hurricane. The fall is guaranteed because the foundation is worthless.
But the fall is not just financial. The man who trusts in riches becomes a certain kind of man. He becomes shallow, arrogant, and anxious. He is arrogant because he believes his own press; he thinks he has accomplished all this by his own strength. He is anxious because, deep down, he knows his god is vulnerable. His god can be stolen. His god can be lost in a lawsuit. And so he must constantly guard his god, which is an exhausting and soul-crushing business. Ultimately, this fall is eschatological. The rich fool in the parable had his barns full and his soul empty. "This very night your soul is required of you," God said, "and then whose will all this be?" (Luke 12:20). He falls out of this life and into an eternity where his currency is not accepted.
This is a direct assault on the American dream, which is so often the dream of autonomous security through wealth. God says that path is a dead end. It is a trap. It promises stability and delivers collapse.
The Righteous Root (v. 28b)
In stark contrast to the brittle confidence of the rich fool, we have the vibrant life of the righteous.
"...But the righteous will flourish like the green leaf." (Proverbs 11:28b LSB)
Notice the contrast. The first man trusts in what he has, his riches. The second man is defined by who he is: righteous. The first man's security is external, something he possesses. The second man's security is internal, it is his character, which is a gift from God. So what does it mean to be righteous? In the ultimate sense, it means to be declared righteous by God through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Our righteousness is an alien righteousness; it is Christ's righteousness imputed to us (2 Cor. 5:21). We are not righteous because of what we do; we are righteous because of what He has done. This is the root of the whole business.
But this imputed righteousness is never sterile. It always, always produces practical righteousness. A man who is right with God begins to live rightly before God. He seeks to obey God's law, not to be saved, but because he has been saved. He deals honestly. He loves his neighbor. His trust is not in his portfolio, but in his Patron, the living God. He is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose confidence is in Him (Jer. 17:7).
And what is the result of this righteous trust? He will "flourish." The word carries the idea of thriving, growing, being full of life and vitality. The image given is that of "the green leaf." This is a powerful metaphor. A leaf does not flourish by its own power. Its life is entirely derivative. It is connected to the branch, which is connected to the trunk, which is drawing life and sustenance from unseen roots deep in the soil, drawing from a hidden water source. The flourishing of the leaf is the visible evidence of an invisible, secure connection to its life source.
This is a picture of the Christian life. The righteous man flourishes because he is connected to Christ. He is the vine, we are the branches. Apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5). The greenness of the leaf speaks of life, health, and fruitfulness. Even in a time of drought, the tree with deep roots remains green (Jer. 17:8). The man who trusts in riches is like a tumbleweed, all surface, no roots, blown about by every economic wind. The righteous man is like a great oak, whose stability is not seen on the surface but is found in the depths of his trust in God.
Conclusion: Two Trees, Two Destinies
So we are left with two options, two ways to live. You can be the man who trusts in his riches, or you can be the man who is righteous before God. You can build your life on the dead, inert pile of your accomplishments and possessions, or you can be a living organism, a flourishing leaf, drawing your life from the God who made you.
The first man's life is a matter of anxious accumulation. The second man's life is a matter of grateful reception. The first man tries to make himself secure, and fails utterly. The second man rests in the security God provides, and flourishes as a result. The first man's wealth owns him. The second man, if God grants him wealth, owns his wealth, holding it with an open hand as a steward for the King.
Where is your trust today? Do not answer this question superficially. Look at your anxieties. Look at your calendar. Look at your bank statement. What makes you feel safe? What keeps you up at night? The answer to those questions will tell you where your trust is really located.
The gospel is the great reversal of this proverb. We come to God with nothing. We are spiritually bankrupt, fallen, and withered. We have no righteousness of our own. And in the great exchange, Christ takes our bankruptcy and gives us His infinite riches. He takes our withered, dead branch and grafts it into Himself, the tree of life. He takes our unrighteousness and clothes us in His perfect righteousness.
Therefore, the call is to repent of your self-reliant trust. Whether you trust in great riches or in the meager riches of your own goodness, it is all the same idolatry. Turn away from that crumbling foundation. By faith, lay hold of Christ. Be found in Him, not having a righteousness of your own, but that which comes through faith. And when you are rooted in Him, you will find that you are no longer a brittle, falling thing. You are a green leaf, alive and secure, and you will flourish, not just for a season, but into eternity.